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ATI, Social/Economic Rights, & Development

Explore the essential role of Accountability Systems in bridging Access to Information and Social/Economic Rights to foster human development. Learn how sector-specific 'information regimes' tied to accountability institutions are crucial for realizing these rights.

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ATI, Social/Economic Rights, & Development

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  1. ATI, Social/Economic Rights, & Development Rob Jenkins Professor of Political Science University of London r.jenkins@bbk.ac.uk

  2. Two points re: linkage between ATI and Social/Economic Rights • Accountability systems are the key point of interface between ATI & realizing soc/econ rights (ie, Human Development) • Sector-specific ‘information regimes,’ linked (via statute) to accountability institutions, are needed to help realize social/econ rights.

  3. Point No. 1:How ATI Supports Soc/Econ Rights (Via Accountability Systems) Accountability Systems (Regulatory agencies, Oversight institutions, Elections/election commissions) Access to Information Realizing Soc/Econ Rights

  4. First Arrow:ATI --> Accountability • Information is built-in to definition of accountability, which has 2 parts: • Answerability: requiring power holders to account for actions (to specialized bodies AND to public) • Implies power-holders sharing basicinformation about actions (official documents) • But also requires them to engage in public ‘reason-giving,’ justifying decisions/actions in light of official documentary record. • Enforcement: permitting sanctions against power holders if performance/justifications found wanting.

  5. Second Arrow:Accountability Systems --> Soc/Econ Rights • Accountability systems are key mechanisms for operationalizing soc/econ rights • They prevent human development deprivations (another way of conceiving soc/ec rights) • Where rights are not respected, an accountability institution has failed • Horizontal: parliamentary oversight, human rights commissions, anti-corruption bureaux • Vertical: Elections, civil society pressure.

  6. Point No. 2:For ATI to Enhance Accountability (and thus Improve Human Development)… • Sector/Policy-Specific ‘Info Regimes’ are Critical • Sector/Policy-Specific ‘Info Regimes’ Should be: • Built into the Sector/Policy Legislation • Highly-detailed (re: what information, from whom, when released, how to be used) • Linked to Accountability Institutions that Include People in ‘Direct’ / ‘Hybrid’ / ‘Diagonal’ Mode

  7. Illustrating the Point: A Story in Two ‘Acts’ • Two cases from India: • Best Practice: National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005 • (Possibly) Worst Practice: Special Economic Zone Act 2005 • Both Passed in Same Year as India’s Breakthrough Right to Information Act 2005

  8. India’s NREGA, 2005 • Flagship Government Initiative to Counter ‘Jobless Growth’ • New Deal Style Employment Program: Paving Roads, Building Schools, Digging Irrigation Canals • Guarantees 100 days work to poor rural households (making it a justiciable right) • ATI is Central to Scheme’s Operation (because RTI Activists Crafted Act/Scheme) • RESULT: Despite Inevitable Problems…a Huge Step forward for protecting vulnerable people

  9. Learning from Best Practice:Features of NREGA Info Regime • Info Available at All Program Stages • Worker Registration --> Auditing of Completed Works • Specialized IT Platform to Manage Information Flow • Facilitates Access, Reduces Scope for Tampering • Ensures Clarity Re: Formats of Information and Level of Detail Required • Info Availability Directly Linked to Accountability Institutions • Requirement that Information be Collectively Verified by Local Government Popular Assemblies

  10. India’s SEZ Act, 2005 • Goal: Increase FDI/Trade/Growth by Creating Duty-free Enclaves with lighter-than-usual regulations • Facilitates Private Developers to Acquire Land and Obtain Administrative Clearances to Develop Infrastructure Requirements • RESULT: Policy (and especially Implementation) Hugely Controversial • Charges of corruption widespread and plausible • Activist confrontations with police have resulted in numerous deaths

  11. Learning from Worst Practice:Features of SEZ Act, 2005 • Unlike NREGA, no ATI Provisions (let alone ‘Info Regime’) • ATI Missing at All Stages of Policy implementation: • Approval of Projects / Development of Zones • Actual Governance of Zones Once Up and Running (very worrying for what are industrial townships) • Unlike NREGA, no direct links to Accountability Institutions… • Actually detaches ‘Special’ Zones from Ordinary Accountability Systems

  12. Conclusion • Accountability systems crucial to realising social/economic rights (ie human development improvements) • ATI is a necessary part of making accountability institutions work better • To improve accountability systems (and thus human development), ATI must be designed into legal framework underlying sector/policy work.

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